So what does that mean again????

A Useful list of vocabulary specific for 3D Modeling and Animation:Attribute Editor
An editing window that shows all
the attributes of one particular node in detail, using an explanatory
interface. The Attribute Editor is useful for viewing and changing
detailed information about an object.
Selection
Change into face mode Select
four faces from a polygon object, Select some more random faces, Deselect
some of those faces, Manipulate these faces,Change back to object mode
.ma file format
Maya ASCII, the native ASCII file format used by Maya
atmosphere
- In rendering, the environment that surrounds the
objects in a scene. For example, the simulation of fine particles (fog,
smoke, or dust) in the air.
Autodesk Maya 2014
The Software we use
axis -
One of three vectors (X, Y, and
Z) that define the three dimensions of a scene.
backdrop
An image that you display in the background of a scene.
bump map
In rendering, the simulation of 3-dimensional surface detail effects by
creating the illusion of bumps or other types of surface relief.
camera
In Maya, the method for setting up the view of a scene, especially one that
will be rendered.Like a real-world camera, the Maya camera frames the view of
a scene by tracking, tumbling, panning, and zooming.Unlike a real-world
camera, the Maya camera does not automatically capture lighting, motion blur,
and other effects. These effects must be explicitly created, turned on, and
in some cases rendered.
Channel Box
An editing window where you can view and edit an object’s keyable
attributes (such as transformations, keys, and expressions)
character
In animation, a model that uses special attributes such as skeleton joints
and IK for animation. These attributes are set up and animated together,
making it possible to create the complex mechanics required by characters.
character setup
In animation, the process of preparing a 3D model with accompanying joints
and skeletons for animation.Also known as rigging.
control curve
In painting, curves that are associated with strokes. You can set
stroke tubes to follow or be attracted to control curves, for example if you
want to simulate lightning.
control point
A point that controls the shape of a deformable object. Examples of
control points include NURBS control vertices (CVs), polygonal vertices, and
lattice points
control vertex (CV)
In modeling, a point that controls the shape of a NURBS curve or surface. It
is displayed as a small filled box.
Creation
Make your Own
depth map
In rendering, an image file that represents the distance from a
specific light source to the surfaces that the light source illuminates, from
the point of view of the light source. Each pixel in the depth map represents
the distance from the light to the nearest shadow-casting surface in a
specific direction.
depth of fieldIn photography, the range of distances within which
objects will be sharply focused. (Objects outside of this range appear
blurred or out of focus.)edge
In modeling, a side or edge of a polygonal model, represented by a
straight line between the two ordered vertices that define it.
edge loop
A path of polygon edges connected in sequence by their shared vertices.
extrude
In polygonal modeling, the process of extending a vertex, edge, or face,
thereby creating additional faces off of surrounding faces.
face
In polygonal modeling, the closed space formed when three or more
vertices are linked by edges.
falloff
In shadows or soft deformation, the point at which a deformation falls
off to zero. Defined in terms of a falloff radius
Graph Editor
window for editing animation curves.
handle
In general, an icon displayed in the workspace that you can use to
manipulate objects.
hierarchyIn general, the arrangement of parent-child
relationships for all connected nodes that make up an object (also known
as object hierarchy) or a scene (also known
as DAG or scene hierarchy).hinge joint
In animation, a joint that can rotate only about one of its local axes.
A human knee is a good example of a hinge joint.
Hot Keys
change between these
manipulation
Hypershade
A window where you can create, edit, and connect rendering nodes, such as
textures, materials, lights, rendering utilities, and special effects.
image plane
A 2D object (plane) that enables the placement of an image file into a
view. Image planes are used extensively to create backgrounds and
environments (for reflections).
Layer Editor
A window that helps you organize large-scale pieces of the scene so you
can show, hide, or edit them all at onc
locatorA particular position in world space, marked by a
small gnomon whose lines extend in each direction along the X, Y
and Z axes.loft
In modeling, a series of splines that define the shape of an object, then can
be lofted together
to form a surface.An analogy is to boat building, where a skeleton of ribs is
built, then covered by planks or metal sheets to form the hull.luminance
The measurable brightness of a surface.
manipulate
Move an object in all directions
manually and in the channel box, Scale an object manually and in the
channel box, rotate an object manually and in the channel box
manipulator
A visual and interactive tool for changing an object's attributes. Many
Maya tools provide manipulators for you to directly position and scale
objects in the workspace.
material
In rendering, a description of what an object looks like when it is
rendered.
MEL
Maya Embedded Language, Maya’s interpreted command and scripting language.
mental ray
An integrated plug-in renderer that allows interactive and batch mental ray
rendering from within the Maya user interface.mental ray offers all the
features traditionally expected of photorealistic rendering, and includes
functionality not found in most rendering software
mesh
In polygonal modeling, a collection of polygons, which can be of
different types (triangles, quads, n-sided).
Movement
Zoom in and out, Panel around
the screen, Roll around the screen, Change perspective
node
A construct that holds specific information, along with the actions
associated with that information.
NURBS
Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline. A type of geometry that includes curves,
patches, surfaces, etc. Are empty and
act like a skin
object
In Maya, any entity in a scene.
opacity
A material property that prevents light from passing through an object.
Outliner
A window that lists the objects, lights, cameras, and other items in a
scene.You can use the Outliner to examine the structure and
components of the scene hierarchy, display shape nodes, connections, and
attributes, select and rename an object, and reorder nodes
panel
In general, a part of the Maya interface that allows you to view
objects or use controls
parent constraint
A constraint relating the position (translation and rotation) of one
object to another object, so that they behave as if part of a parent-child
relationship.
parent object
An object or other item that controls the attributes of one or more
child objects. A parent can also be the child of another parent.
path
In animation, a curve that controls the motion of an object.
plateau tangentIn animation, a type of tangent that
forces animation curves to respect the positions of keyframes so that maximum
and minimum values (hills and valleys) do not extend past the keyframes.
Plateau tangents are useful to keep the animation timing exact.Playblast
The Playblast process takes a screen grab of the view at each
frame, and then plays (blasts)
the resulting images to a desktop movie player or
the FCheck utilityplug-in
An add-on module that extends Maya’s capabilities. You can create or
purchase specialty plug-ins to customize Maya for a specific job (for
example, for importing or exporting file formats, for rendering, etc.)
point light
A light that illuminates in all directions, radiating from a point in
space. For example, a point light can simulate an incandescent light bulb.
point of view
In general, the location from where the camera is viewing a scene.
primitive
A simple shape that can be molded or expanded to add more detail.
Primitives include spheres, cubes, cylinders, cones, planes, and toruses.
ramp
A 2D texture or color gradient in which the color or grayscale value
changes from one value to another across the extent of the image.
raytracing
A rendering technique used to create photorealistic reflections and
refractions on reflective surfaces, and to produce shadows. Raytracing is a
high-quality alternative to reflection mapping, although it requires more
computation time.
real time
In film and video compositing, the display, recording, or playback
speed at which motion appears natural. In NTSC, real time is 30 frames per
second; in PAL, it is 24 frames per second.
refraction
In general, the bending of light as it travels through dense transparent
material such as glass or water.
render settings
Attributes that affect all rendering tasks in a scene or layer (for
example, how renders display, what format they are in, and whether or not
shadows or other rendering components are included).
Render View
A window that interactively renders a single view (or a single frame of
an animation).
revolve surface
A surface created by revolving a profile curve about an axis. The
profile curve can be a curve, curve-on-surface, surface isoparm, or trim
edge.
rotation
A transformation that turns (or orients) an object about an axis
roughness
The property of a surface that causes scattering as light reflects off
of it.
Script Editor
An editor for developing MEL scripts
set
A collection of objects.
shader
The specification of properties and lighting for a surface.
shadow
In general, an area that is totally or partially obscured from light by an
object.In Maya, an individual light source can produce no shadows (the
default), depth map shadows or raytraced shadows.You can combine depth map
shadow casting lights and raytraced shadow casting lights in a scene.
Adjusting the attributes of depth map shadows or raytraced shadows
can simulate shadows from many different types of real-world light sources
and objects.
shininess
In rendering, the intensity of the shiny attribute of a surface. For example,
a wet fish has a shinier surface than a dry leaf.In animations, surfaces
reflect light in different ways depending on their shininess.
The Blinn material is preferable for shiny surfaces in animations.
Highlights on other specular materials, like Phong and PhongE,
may flicker when animated.
Short Cuts
One button press to do something
specular reflection
A type of reflection that occurs when light hits a shiny surface. It causes
highlights on the object.
spline
a curved line, made up of segments and defined by control points (for
example, CVs).
spot light
A light that shines evenly within a narrow range of directions (defined by a
cone) from the light’s location.Spot lights create a beam of light that
gradually becomes wider (for example, a flashlight or car headlight).
surface
In modeling, a connected sequence of curves.
tangent
In graph editor, a line or vector that indicates the slope of a curve
at a given point.
tangent constraintIn animation, a constraint that keeps an
object moving along, and oriented to, a curve. The curve provides the path of
the object’s motion, and the object orients itself to point along the curve.texture
An image that modifies surface detail.
transparency
A surface can be transparent or opaque. When ray tracing a transparent
surface, light rays that penetrate the surface bend, and the light is
refracted.
zoom
In general, the act of moving closer to or farther away from an object.
In Maya, zooming a camera means changing the lens’s focal length. The camera
does not move, but the scene in the camera’s view becomes larger or smaller.